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Working with a teacher, teams of up to 4 students pick a current technology, research it, envision what it might look like in 20 years, and describe the development steps, pros and cons, and obstacles. Submissions are due February 6, 2017.

Sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association and Toshiba, this year’s contest is linked to the Next Generation Science Standards. More than 350,000 students in the United States and Canada have participated in ExploraVision since its 1992 debut.

NASA’s second annual OPSPARC Challenge asks students in grades 3 to 12 to identify everyday items that were first developed for a space mission and then imagine a new humanitarian purpose for that technology. Deadline for submission is February 10, 2017.

That question lies at the heart of NASA’s Optimus Prime Spinoff and Research Challenge, a contest that asks students in grades 3 to 12 to identify and dream up a new purpose for technology first developed for a space mission.

Mission to Mars, CubeSats, and Polymers for the Planet are among the hands-on engineering units developed by 4th to 8th grade science teachers in a unique partnership between the Boeing Company and the Teaching Channel.

The CyberPatriot Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative (ESCEI) is a set of three fun, interactive learning modules aimed at increasing K-6 students’ awareness of online safety and cybersecurity principles. The free program kit comes with curriculum on these topics to supplement material presented in the interactive learning modules.

The 2014 EngineerGirl! Essay Contest from the National Academies & National Academy of Engineering focuses on 50 Years of Engineering in Society and how engineering might change life in the next five decades. Students in three age categories – elementary, middle, and high school – compete for monetary prizes and recognition through research and writing essays on one of several topics. Deadline: March 1, 2014.

Ever wonder who sets STEM education policy – or yearn to influence it? Apply to become an Einstein Fellow and spend a year at the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA, or a congressional office.

Elementary students investigate major landforms (e.g., mountains, rivers) in groups of two. They build a 3D model of a landscape depicting several of these landforms. Once they have built their model, they act as civil and transportation engineers to build a road through the landscape they have created.

How do you study an animal that can’t sit still or an environment so extreme you can’t visit? National Geographic Education’s Engineering Exploration Challenge (NGX) asks children 6 to 18 to follow the engineering design process to develop, build, and test robots to solve big challenges that explorers often face in the field.